A Virginia Beach man was sentenced to life in prison plus five years after prosecutors said he stabbed his landlady more than 90 times and hid her body inside a toolbox, a case that began when the victim’s husband spotted a single drop of blood on their kitchen floor.
The sentence caps a case that has haunted a quiet neighborhood since October 2020, when police were called to a home on Green Cedar Lane and found Cynthia Capps, 63, dead and stuffed into a toolbox. The defendant, Hagen Lawrence Roberts, 41, was convicted in November after a jury trial. Prosecutors and city officials said the evidence included a broken knife tip recovered from the victim’s skull, a folding knife found in Roberts’ room, and blood and DNA evidence throughout the home.
The investigation started on Oct. 8, 2020, after Capps’ husband called 911 and told dispatchers he could not find his wife after taking a shower, according to a release from the Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. He said he searched the house and noticed a single drop of blood on the kitchen floor, which alarmed him enough to call police. Officers responded to the address on Green Cedar Lane, spoke with the husband, and began searching the home for signs of Capps or any indication of foul play.
Police learned the couple rented a room in their home to Roberts, according to prosecutors. When officers tried to enter Roberts’ bedroom, they found it locked. They forced the door and found Roberts lying on his bed, officials said. Police noted he appeared wet, as if he had recently showered, and he had a cut on his right hand that was wrapped in a black bandana. As officers expanded their search, they found blood stains in the backyard, then located Capps dead inside a toolbox with injuries to her head and face, prosecutors said. An autopsy later concluded she had been stabbed more than 90 times in the head, face and neck.
Investigators and forensic experts tied the injuries to evidence found inside the home, according to the commonwealth’s attorney. A metal shard that appeared to be the broken tip of a knife was removed from Capps’ skull during the medical examiner’s analysis. Police recovered a black folding knife with a broken tip from Roberts’ room, and the blade was described as being covered in dried blood. Officers also found clothing in an outside trash can that was covered in blood, along with blood stains in multiple areas of the residence. Testing later determined the metal shard matched the broken knife, prosecutors said, and DNA from both Capps and Roberts was found on the knife, the discarded clothing and in blood stains throughout the home.
The case moved slowly through the courts, but the core narrative remained anchored to the physical evidence, prosecutors said. In a three-day jury trial that ended Nov. 20, 2025, Roberts was found guilty of first-degree murder and stabbing in the commission of a felony. Circuit Court Judge Stephen C. Mahan presided over the trial and later imposed the maximum sentence allowed for the convictions: life plus five years in prison. The prosecution team included Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys Thomas J. Wright and Gordon C. Ufkes, according to the city release.
Roberts continued to deny he killed Capps, even after the verdict. In remarks quoted in coverage of the sentencing, Roberts told the court, “The picture you’re painting of me as a menace to society, and a killer with no remorse, is not true.” He added that he had remorse but said he could not admit to something he did not do. The judge, however, described the evidence as overwhelming, according to reports of the hearing. Officials did not publicly identify a motive in their sentencing announcement, and court filings describing a motive were not included in the city’s statement.
The crime scene details have remained central because the case depended heavily on forensic reconstruction rather than a public confession or a clear, stated motive. Prosecutors said blood evidence was found across the property, with critical items recovered from Roberts’ room and outside trash. The single metal shard recovered from the victim’s skull became a key link, tying the injuries to the specific folding knife police found. In many homicide cases, prosecutors must show not only that a victim was killed, but that the defendant caused the death with the required intent. Here, prosecutors argued the stabbing count and the condition of the scene supported that burden, while the defense maintained Roberts’ innocence.
The sentencing also underscored the severity of the violence described by the medical examiner. Officials said the victim suffered more than 90 stab wounds to the head, face and neck, an unusually high number that prosecutors cited as evidence of a deliberate and sustained attack. The toolbox, where Capps was found, became an enduring detail in the case, shaping the public understanding of the crime and the prosecution’s argument that the body was concealed after the killing. The city’s announcement described Capps as a wife and a mother, and her obituary, cited in coverage, described her as a dedicated mother and wife who overcame major obstacles in her life.
With the maximum sentence now imposed, the criminal case is largely resolved unless Roberts pursues appeals, a process that can focus on trial rulings, evidence issues, and claims of legal error rather than a re-litigation of every fact. City officials framed the outcome as the final step after the jury’s verdict, while emphasizing the evidence that investigators collected in the first hours of the case. The next public milestone, if any, would come through appellate filings or future court hearings tied to post-conviction motions.
Author note: Last updated February 27, 2026.